Occupy Wall Street Calm So Far in Ninth Day

September 25, 2011

After a day of arrests and chaos, it is peaceful downtown at Zuccotti Park, where Occupy Wall Street protesters — who call the location “Liberty Square” — are stationed. Although police said there have been no arrests or summonses today, and Patrick Bruner, a member of Occupy Wall Street’s public relations working group, said that as of yet he has not heard of any conflicts with police, news of what occurred yesterday is still rippling through the media.

The New York Timesposted the above video which explains that it shows, in slow motion, a member of the NYPD spraying mace or pepper spray into a group of protesters. In press releases Occupy Wall Street has been using the term referring to people being “maced.” But when asked about the possibility of macing, police at the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information, said that they “don’t use Mace.” That said, police did confirm that they use pepper spray, but declined to comment on yesterday’s events.

Occupy Wall Street today posted guidelines for the multiple marches they make each day on their website today in response, Bruner said, “to police consistently attempting to derail our marches.” The guidelines are as follows:

Stay together and KEEP MOVING!

Don’t instigate cops or pedestrians with physical violence.

Use basic hand signals.

Empowered pace keeps at the front, back and middle of every march. These folks are empowered to make directional decisions and guide the march.

We respect diversity of tactics, but consider how our actions may affect the entire group.

Meanwhile, Bruner said that the protesters are currently holding General Assembly, a regular gathering. Rosie Gray was on the scene, where she estimated no more than 300 people were gathered. According to Rosie, during the General Assembly it was announced that one of Occupy Wall Street’s working groups would hold a workshop to teach people different arrest scenarios and how to act in such situations. A representative from another working group explained that they are going to try to set up a fund for bail money.